Possible verdict, end of Iran spy trial for US reporter

FILE - In this photo April 11, 2013 file photo, Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post, smiles as he attends a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran. Iran has no plan to swap detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian with any Iranian prisoners held in the United States, local news agencies reported Tuesday, the first time any Iranian official has mentioned such a trade for the journalist. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Photo: Vahid Salemi, STR

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's judiciary sentenced two people to 10 years in prison Sunday for spying for the United States and Israel, but their names were not released, local media reported.

It is not clear if Iranian-American reporter Jason Rezaian, who faces similar charges, is one of them.

It is not uncommon in Iran to hand down sentences without revealing names of the convicted, especially in matters involving national security. Judiciary spokesman Gholami Hossein Mohseni Ejei said that a revolutionary court, which is also handling Rezaian's case, had sentenced the two "due to their espionage for the United States and Israel," according to the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

Relatives of Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who has been held in Iran since July 2014, are waiting for a verdict, after court proceedings against Rezaian ended this month.

Mohseni Ejei said he did not know whether a verdict in his case had been reached.

"But the final session took place two weeks ago," he said.

According to Iranian law, a verdict needs to be issued one week after the final court session. Rezaian's last session was held Aug. 10. Instead of issuing a verdict, Iran's judiciary issued a statement saying that it was up to the judge to decide whether the Aug. 10 session was the final one.

State TV quoted Rezaian's lawyer, Leila Ahsan, as saying that a verdict had been issued but not announced, but in a phone interview she denied she had said such a thing.

"I said I suppose a verdict has been issued by now, but I have no further information," Ahsan said.

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman highlighted the fate of what she said were 19 Iranians in U.S. prisons; analysts said this could be a hint for a potential prisoner swap, but another Iranian official ruled out such a plan.

"An exchange of Jason Rezaian is not on the agenda. Each of the issues has their own separate case," said Hassan Qashqavi, Iran's deputy foreign minister in charge of legal and consular affairs, was quoted in Iranian semiofficial news agencies Tasnim and Fars.